Agreed on all points.For power consumption, sure. Plus I think their AMD SoC is on a 28nm process node.
GPD Win is a better design as of right now
If Smach Z is to be released, they'll need to work a lot of things. First of all: Get this 1080p screen out of the picture. Second: They'll need to work heat dissipation really seriously. Third: I know a lot of people love the Steam controller, but I'm not sure it's the right choice for this device.
It's also crazy that Windows 10 is a potential stretch goal option when Microsoft give them away for sub 9 inch devices.
For this device to work well, they'd either need for AMD to bring a low powered 14nm SoC, or go for Intel and try to get some of the last cherry trail x7 z8700 soc.
Specifications*:
CPU: AMD Merlin Falcon RX-421BD (15w) SoC at 2.1 GHz
Cores: 4/4
iGPU: Radeon R7 at 800Mhz
RAM: 4GB (SMACH Z) || 8GB (SMACH Z PRO) DDR3 2133 MHz
HD: 64GB (SMACH Z) || 128GB (SMACH Z PRO)
Screen: 6 FULL HD (1920x1080)
Battery: 5 hours of gaming.
MicroSD Card Slot.
USB 3.0 type C.
HDMI video output connection.
Wi-Fi connectivity 5.0 Ghz.
4G LTE mobile network connectivity (PRO model only)
Bluetooth connectivity.
Front-camera (PRO model only)
*Specifications are subject to change
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you:
@Super Soup
Feb-March is an estimation and a goal. We can confirm that.
@Mairinger Wolfgang
Yes, you can upgrade your RAM. SoC (CPU+GPU) and RAM can be upgraded. So yes, you can buy the SMACH Z standard version and then buy 8GB or upgrade your SoC in the future. We don't have prices for that yet sorry, and take into account that this won't be available from day 1.
Was just skimming their Facebook comments for anything of notice.
The prototype is not the final form-factor. The stick and buttons will be higher and nearer of the screen.
Yes, in the Kickstarter we will publish the new 3D model. However, you can already see in the previous 3D model on top of the Facebook group, that the controls are not like in the case prototype. We had to put them more vertical because of technical issues with the screen.
We're trying to do the controls as similar to Steam Controller as possible. However, for the final version the touchpads will be a little bit smaller to make the whole console more compact.
SMACH Z It works exactly like a Steam Controller, but it's not a official Steam Controller.
SMACH Z 11 October for the Kickstarter campaign. Feb-Mar 2017 for the backers shipments. December 2017/Q1 2018 for the market release.
9-10 month difference between when crowdfunders get it and it goes on sale for the general market?
What am I missing here?
Thanks Benoit! Yes you could get 10h with the extra battery. The SoC (CPU+GPU), RAM and Hard Drive will be clickarmed so you will be able to upgraded them in the future. The drivers will be amdgpu stack (you can install others if you prefer). Yes, we'll pre-install emulators too!
Thunderclap mentioned a second battery in the back for additional playtime but that number seems hella off.
Unless the add-on battery is the size of a suitcase.
Yes, you're right, going with 6" inches makes the device bigger, and it won't be possible to put in in your pocket. We had many internal discussion about that here, but finally players have voted for 6" and we want to really create the device that you want, so we will have to sacrifice some portability in order to have a bigger screen... and anyway I don't bring my Nintendo 3DS in my pocket either
I guess they did backtrack on the 5.7" they said they were gonna use in a newsletter.
Someone tell me google translate is messing this up.
Please tell me this isn't right
https://translate.google.com/transl...l_specifikacio_merlin_falcon.html&prev=search
The device itself will not be too thin, and this is obviously compromises the right size battery, and passive cooling is necessary because, as the designers finally decided fanless machine. In the longer term this is positive, because the wind machine would only cause problems, so it pays slightly thicker product design. The battery provides 5 hours of battery life under usage, but the process is not yet measured data. It is, however, that comes with an additional battery and also what can be connected to the Smach to Z, and thus gained another 5 hours.Maga az eszköz nem lesz túl vékony, és ez a kompromisszum nyilván a megfelelő méretű akkumulátor, illetve a passzív hűtés miatt szükséges, mivel végül ventilátormentes gép mellett döntöttek a tervezők. Hosszabb távon ez a kedvező, ugyanis a szélgép csak gondokat okozna, így megéri némileg vastagabb terméket tervezni. Az akkumulátor egyébként 5 órányi, használat melletti üzemidőt biztosít, de a mérési folyamatról egyelőre nincs adat. Arról viszont van, hogy jön majd egy kiegészítő akkumulátor is, amit hozzá lehet csatlakoztatni a Smach Z-hez, és ezzel nyerhető még 5 óra.
Passive cooling?
With a 15w amd chip?
On facebook they said
which just gave me the impression that they were sticking in a very large heat sink with the fan but this is the first time I've seen strictly passive cooling mentioned.ImasD is very expertise in miniaturization which reduce temperature in the device. And we have enough space to include passive cooling materials. Of course, it's something that need to be worked on the final device, and one of the production challenges, but we're confident that it won't be an issue.
Hey no wonder they claim such a long battery life.
Won't suck down as much power once it throttles.
Ah since the only new info posted here was their latest video doing a dump from posts I've made on the pyra forum topic about this a couple days ago.
Latest known specs
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/47298-play-your-pc-games-everywhereWhere did you find these specs ? Sounds not believable.
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/47298-play-your-pc-games-everywhere
Smach Z started a crowdadvertising campaign and those specs are from that page and are the most up to date idea we have on it until their next kickstarter launches in 15'ish days.
Sounds like bullshit.
According to AMD, the GPU has 8 compute units. So 512 shader units, and at 800mhz, that'd be 819Gflops which would be laptop grade GPU. And that'd be really fast... a shiton faster than what the video shows, aka Fez slideshow and L4D2 running this slow.
The prototype in the video uses an Intel SoC, it is not the final hardware.
According to their comments on Facebook, the AMD SoC is more powerful than a 360.
https://www.facebook.com/SMACHZ/
Sounds like bullshit.
According to AMD, the GPU has 8 compute units. So 512 shader units, and at 800mhz, that'd be 819Gflops which would be laptop grade GPU. And that'd be really fast... a shiton faster than what the video shows, aka Fez slideshow and L4D2 running this slow.
Their current prototype has a Intel Atom CPU inside.
I.E. their current prototype in no way shape or form resembles what it the supposed final version will be.
I don't know why they showed this off at Gamescom.
I give them points for actually having a real tech company backing them but at this current point I have as much faith in them as I do PGS.
Especially since they are saying they are going to use passive cooling.
With a 15w AMD chip.
Have fun gaming for 5 minutes before it starts throttling.
Perhaps.I think it's a bit unfair to compare them to PGS, considering they had a real prototype running. But yeah, I call bullshit on the specs.
A 'start up' Kickstarter Majorcan seeks to raise 250,000 euros to produce a portable console which can play PC titles. It will be available in 2017.
A console designed and manufactured entirely in Spain? That's what aims the start up Majorcan Smach Team, which plans to launch next worldwide the first portable console games developed for PC year.
Z Smach begin on October 18 a funding campaign on the platform of crowdfundingKickstarter to raise 250,000 euros seeking to start manufacturing the device. The young company estimates that users Kickstarter funding support will receive the console in the spring of 2017. The price for these investors will be 299 euros for the basic version and $ 499 for the Pro version .
The business plan contemplates an initial production of 3,000 units to meet demand through Kickstarter, explains Daniel Fernandez, co-founder of Smach Team. The goal is to market the console through its website in late 2017 or early 2018, a stage where they have set a sales target of 50,000 units. In a second phase, in contemplating selling through other distributors, including physical facilities, they expect to market the order of 150,000 units, which would represent a turnover of 52.5 million euros.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4waj3yThe console will be entirely manufactured in Spain. The start up works with theValencian company IMASD as a technology partner, a company with over 10 years experience in producing hardware. " We ruled manufactured in China because it would lose control and we were afraid of a possible piracy. In addition, there is no cost savings basement as you can think , " says Fernandez.
In 2016, Smach Z received an initial capital investment by Mola incubator projects together with other private investors and public funds derived from Eureka Prize 2015. The investment was used to finance the production of the first prototype console. To date they invested more than 150,000 euros in the development of the first prototype and there are plans to invest another 300,000 euros to the design and development of the final version.
Having tried the controller myself, I'm concerned about those haptic pads being the primary control for most of these games.
A highly detailed 3d cad model you can manipulate and look at from every angle.This is the final form factor design of SMACH Z.
But now its this.
Well I guess we'll know everything tomorrow.
hey guys want to come over and play with my smach zero?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgppMAo1-V8&ab_channel=SMACHZ
Video of what the device is theoretically capable of playing.
Streamed from a AMD development board to the atom cased prototype.
It looks like they've also changed from ddr3 to ddr4 which seems like a big last minute change.
I'm really hoping they show exactly what stage they are at and what the actual internals of the real thing look like in its current state for the kickstarter campaign.
I want to see more handheld devices so if it seems at least halfway decent I'll back it but I need some reassurance this point.
Pledge €900 or moreABOUT $988 USD
THE GOLDEN SMACH
GOLDEN SMACH (16 GB RAM) WITH NAME ENGRAVED + Carrying case + T-Shirt.
Get the legendary GOLDEN SMACH Z PRO with even more RAM (16GB) and engrave the sentence you want in the back of the console. Note: If you don't like the golden color, you can choose another one.
The Golden Edition is a very limited Edition!
- Recommended for collectors-
ESTIMATED DELIVERYApr 2017
SHIPS TOAnywhere in the world
Limited (100 left of 100)0 backers
They even got high priced tiers aimed at certain groups.Pledge €700 or moreABOUT $768 USD
SMACH Z PRO EXPRESS
SMACH Z PRO and charger at least 1 week before than everyone.
We will ship your order in priority, so you can be the first in playing SMACH Z. If you are a youtuber, reviewers or journalist you will be able to make the first unboxing!
- Recommended for youtubers-
clickARM development boards sounds interesting.Pledge €1,500 or moreABOUT $1,647 USD
SMACH DEVKIT
DEVELOPER SUPPORT FOR LIFE + 1 SMACH Z + 1 SMACH Z PRO + ClickARM development board with different modules + Carrying case + T-Shirt.
Get direct access support to our team and priority developers handling. You get the two versions of the console to test your games on both, and a clickARM development board to make your own.
- Recommended for developers -
GPD win was what, 350 grams with a 6700mah battery compared to this?The prototype will not be the final form of the console. We're updating the look and form of SMACH Z to make it more comfortable to handle with the new 6" screen size. The main modifications include:
More prominent grips, to make it more comfortable
Reduced the touchpads from 40mm to 35mm.
Moved the option buttons to the top, to access easier
Adjusted positions of buttons and other aesthetic changes.
The final version will also be much thinner and compact with an estimated weight of approximately 400 grams.
hmmmm didn't someone try stuffing a case with copper foam once and it went poorly?SMACH Z will have passive cooling only, using the latest Copper Foam technology in heat sinks. Testing shows that these heat sinks can outperform their comparable competitors by up to 6ºC/W, making this new range a major breakthrough in thermal management.
The large surface area created by the interconnected pores of the foam coupled with the excellent thermal conductivity of copper allows either for the height of the heat sinks to be reduced or improved thermal performance in the same form factor.
The copper foam is coated with a thin, hard layer of high temperature copper oxide that improves the emissivity of the foam to improve its radiant properties and reduce the temperature of the component.
Let us know if you find anything. I'd like a device like this, but I'm trying to keep my expectations in check.hmmmm didn't someone try stuffing a case with copper foam once and it went poorly?
I need to go look that up.
CPU: AMD Merlin Falcon RX-421BD (12-15w) SoC at 2.1 GHz
Cores: 4/4
iGPU: Radeon R7 at 800 MHz
RAM: 4GB (SMACH Z) || 8GB (SMACH Z PRO) DDR4 2133 MHz
HD: 64GB (SMACH Z) || 128GB (SMACH Z PRO)
Screen: 6” FULL HD (1920x1080). Capacitive touch-screen.
Battery: 5 hours of gaming.
MicroSD Card Slot.
USB 3.0 type C.
HDMI video output connection.
Wi-Fi connectivity 5.0 Ghz. 4G LTE mobile network connectivity (PRO model only)
Bluetooth connectivity.
Front-camera 1.3-megapixels (PRO model only)
*Some specifications depend on Stretch goals, you can check Stretch goals at the end of the page.
So 1080p screen depends on the stretch goal after all.
Risks and challenges
Building the cased prototype has been a good exercise to anticipate problems and challenges. One of the main focus of our work on the final version will be keeping temperature low only using passive cooling.
We still need to work on the final version of the console, for 6 months, updating the form factor, integrating the final hardware and implementing the final cooling system.
Prototype production: April-August 2016
Final unit production: September 2016-February 2017
Shipment to backers: April 2017
Launch to market: December 2017-Q1 2018
I still think that choosing an AMD SoC is a bad idea. Sure, you get slightly more GPU performance out of it, the CPU performance/Watt is just incomparably worse than Intel. And at least for me, a large reason to get this type of device would be to natively play (primarily indie) games which won't require much in the way of GPU, but which won't be particularly well optimized on the CPU side.
I found the exact foam they are using and the article I was thinking of.
http://www.mouser.com/new/versarien-technologies/versarien-lph-heat-sink/
http://www.mouser.com/search/refine.aspx?Ntk=P_MarCom&Ntt=114068631
http://hackaday.com/2014/08/03/behold-the-most-insane-crowdfunding-campaign-ever/
This is the article I was thinking of but to be fair the comment section tore the article apart.
There are tests out there that seem to show copper foam can work well both with passive and active cooling but one way or another it needs some way for the heat to escape.
Well my guess of batteries being in the grips was wrong.I understand your concerns, there is still a lot of work to do with the battery. The 5 hours are an estimation and a goal. We don't know the details about GPD projects, there are many things that could affect battery life and weight of the device, not only the mAh. Other devices are getting more gaming battery hours that GPD win. You have phones and tablets that last more than 10hours of video playback and 3-4 hours of gaming. Then of course the duration can vary a lot depending on the game, if you're playing only AAA probably you may get 2h. The 5h is for the average use of games. Also, to improve the battery life we plan to try some harvesting techniques in the device. For the weight, again, the 400 gr is an estimation and a goal, considering that we're using cooper foam for the heat sink, that is much light we hope to save some grams there. However, the weight is not a big priority for us, the current prototype weights more than 500gr and nobody complaint about it. The battery is in the back of the console, not in the grips, but it's a good idea, we may use it if we need to add more battery ;-) We'll try to give more details about the battery in future updates to clarify any doubt.
Out of everything this is kinda what I want to see the most.Yes, we'll show in an update the ClickARM test board. You have different modules to work with clickARM that you just need to place on the board pushing with your fingers. "SMACH Z OS" will be Linux modified by us to work better in the console and with Steam, but it's not a branch of Steam OS.
Stick to saying upgradable please....Yes, the RAM, space capacity and even the SoC when a newest one is announced are "clickArmed"
Just give up on passive cooling and shove a fan in there already.We will first try to achieve of goal with passive cooling only. But if we see that we need to add a fan we will add it.
Cool concept. If you are backing this just be very, very aware that there is not a snowballs chance in hell that this will actually ship to you in April 2017.
Don't recognize the pcb itself as anything ImasD has shown off before so I can't tell if they are reusing a pcb they already had or if they made it just for the prototype but they have shown off clickARM modules with the Bay Trail chip before so that was probably already lying around.Case Prototype: The current case prototype is fully functional and has a similar look but it's not the final form factor and it has not the final hardware:
It uses a Bay Trail SoC with 2GB RAM.
It's bulkier and heavier than the final form.
All controls and functionality works.
It runs Windows.
It's using clickARM.
It's capable to run old 3D games such as Left4Dead 2 and Half-Life 2 at 15 FPS natively.
During the Gamescom the case prototype was not 100% complete and had problems in the energy system. Because of that it only run some small games.
This pretty much echoes my sentiments. I locked down an early bird Pro, but I'm still cautious as to whether I'll remain committed to it. The prospect of having an upgradable handheld is so enticing, but there's the chance another competitor may release a better designed product in the somewhat near future. A handheld with a Zen/Polaris based SoC is on the top of my list, should it ever arrive.Wait, so the final device shouldn't run games like FEZ and Castle Crashers like a slideshow? Hm. And I'm liking the slimmer version in the most recent gameplay test. Definitely looks more comfortable to take around.
My biggest complaint with stuff like the GPD Win is that they want you to control the cursor with an analog stick. Some people deal with it, but I just can't stand it. I already prefer the SC and it's trackpad greatly to a tradtional controller, so this has definitely caught my eye.
There are a handful of good concerns raised here, though. It kind of worries me, because I'd love for it to work out. If donating to the Kickstarter was a possibility for me, it's definitely out of the question now. Seeing as they're surprisingly close to the goal, I'll just wait and see what comes of this.